Sick care tech support, how may I help you?

We are here to earn your trust

Patients move along a hierarchy of involvement with the sick care system. Unfortunately, when they get to the fulfillment stage, they have a challenging time finding "tech support".

Recently, Verizon CEO Sowmyanarayan Sampath sent an email to customers. At first, it seems like the kind of generic corporate communication that big companies send from time to time. You know, the sort of emails that say lots of words without saying much of anything at all.

Sampath’s email has some of that. It promises that Verizon is “raising the bar,” and that the company has “taken a different path.” There’s also the standard “you’re the reason we’re here,” though, as someone who has had to contact Verizon’s customer support, I’m not quite ready to believe it.

At the end of his email, however, Sampath reveals an important truth about leadership that anyone running a business or organization should read closely.

“We’re building an experience that will earn your trust, every single day,” Sampath writes. “If we ever fall short — I want to hear about it, so we can get better.” He closes the email with his email address, inviting customers to send him a message directly.

I recently had an experience with HP to get my computer fixed. (I'm using it to post this, so the story has a happy conclusion). My computer wouldn't start. I went to Best Buy where I bought it, and they were clueless.